Dark..

The wild night drew him out of his dark abode
Water seeping through the Lord's roof...
his long locks dancing in the wind...
Long strides...towards her ...
Unaware of his unbridled darkness
He glided close to her and dipped his head.
As he rose from the ground..
flowing down his fangs,were drops of her essence,...

He was back in his dark cave...
but No silence reins...
The storm continues unabated...

Fourth wave

A cacophony of chatter..
Amongst a meaningless crowd
Unseeing eyes on the mannequins around

The monotony of commonness sprouts
the sole flare of mutation..
A voice of conviction
accompanying a swagger
that dares to defy the
rigid march...

Welcome the fourth wave ...

Beautiful ... :)

The silent breeze...
a party in the sky ..

a still lake .. .
and fire in my eyes

I wish I could fly..
for its a beautiful night...

Thank you!

Thank you Pixie and C for the wonderful surprise!!!!!
The cakes and bubbles and the lunch and the buzz .. :))
Thank you for making my day special!

And thank you ET ... :) ... for being my twin!!!!
yours was the first call of the day!

Infinite Mode

I was back
to a known strange land

Back to meet a face
I knew once up on a time..

I hesitate to alight
would you like what I
have become today ?

A smile and a hug
was all it took... '

to know that ..future holds
a new old friend ..





.

Shiva Shiva

Happened to miss the bus back home, sometime last week. That's how
I found myself in a cab with about 10 other strangers. And this one
was a Gypsy and I found myself in the back with another guy and a girl.
So far all good,I get a ride, there are other people so i can relax
the grip on the pepper spray can, no stops in between and the vehicle
is cozy and everyone is busy with their ipods or mobiles or just staring
into the night and well, I am bored. Not for too long though!

The night was young and so was the couple in front me . They started
a game of footsie, 'handsie' , accompanied by giggles, groans and
what not. Ahem, Shiva Shiva!

I am no Victorian , but come on!!!! .I wanted to scream, I am right here in
front of you. Love is blind but please do not assume the ones around are
blind too!!!!

The only saving grace was , that the guy held a backpack which shielded
some of the drama, and if anyone wants to ask , why cant you look away,
the answer is , there was no where to look, to my left was a bald head,
to my right a door with translucent windows. But I did find a way,
I looked down, started a series of smses to practically everyone
in my contact list.

But wait, the the climax is even more interesting, the guy asks the cabbie
to stop at Silkboard, and he walks out telling the cabbie that the girl
would pay for him! ( for once I was glad, I do not undertand Kannada,
I can tell you the girl was definitely not yelling love songs that time)

Err... One more time .. Shiva Shiva!

Off Day!

I am playing hookey today , no secrets about the title. But
by 'off' I meant a forgettable day. What do I do to make it worth
framing and hanging on the wall ? :-)) or a bare minimum - tolerable?

1) Order / Cook my fav food, sit back and enjoy it with a good movie,
mush preferably . (yeah, predictable and the competition with Santa begins)

2) Reread Adventures of Tom Sawyer, have been wanting to do that
for a long time. (Would do it today!)

3) Spend time with big bro Google - (or wiki ). ( looking for reviews of
James Patterson's latest, today)

4) Call amma - Catch up on the gossip at home.(works all the time,
my clan is an entertaining lot, there is always someone up to some mischief
or the other. Heard that Villy Aunty was caught counting the coconuts
from last month's harvest, but where was she found ?
in the neighbors plot! Sigh ..)

5) Or talk to pa ( wouldnt get any gossip. But he is a great listener.
(life philosophy, maths, work, pick any of the above and I am in the safe zone)

6) Keep the door open and gaze at the lake outside.
There is something between me and water. (and also me and cats, it all began in Calcutta, Bongs love cats. Infact, I have seen cats that look like pomeranians.).
Back to the lakes. I have lived near water ever since I
left home , even during the years I was away from Mother India .. Foster Ma
Lake ???

7) When I am at home (Kerala) , there is another activity that I love
(n amuses my folks).Rummage through old boxes. ( There has been so
many transfers for pa,that we still have a few trunks, unopened
since the last shift. and Invariably, they bring surprises,
The last time I was home, I found old letters written by a
friend from Pune about 12-13 years ago. Also , found an old diary.
*giggling*, (I am not going to explain that one !!!)

8) Looking at old pics ( nah, not the onsite pics, those are beautiful, but not the kind that triggers a memory). My folks had a tradition of taking a family pic on my bdays. hmm.. Thanks to them , I have pics which say 1992 - Nov, with me in a cute skirt and trying to look old, the glasses sure helps. There is another one with me in a sari while I was still in school. But my fav is the one with me in amma's arms while I was a few months old. Its a black and white pic , slightly tilted, with a slight worry on amma's face. Its not cute. It screams 'Life!'.

9) Book hunting at Blossoms or a kutty shop in Jayanagar.
(Looking for boooks by Virgenia Woolfe, didnt someone tell me
that she chased insanity during her later years ?)

10) Reading about obscure places , that I would see in future ( did you notice the confidence in that statement, Atta girl!)

Hmm.. re reading these, and almost all of them are solo activities and of the to be done at home variety. I need to get out more often. ( looking for a play to watch today)..

Random Squiggles!

For lack of a stick on board in my house, I am going to stick all those lines that I want to read again and again, in here. So here goes :

*** Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking
- J.M. Keynes
*** Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked and which doubtless don't even arise.

*** A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual and electrically prompt. - Mark Twain (I love him!).

*** One ought everyday at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine
picture, and, if it were possible , to speak a few reasonable word. - Gothe, Apprenticeship

*** 'Though this is madness, there is a method in it' - Hamlet ( a literary paradox!)

*** We need words to keep us human. Being human is an accomplishment like playing an instrument. It takes practice. - Micheal Ignatieff.

All these lines make me think , are jargons the work of the ones part of the world domination campaign, who wants to keep communication intentionally hazy or blurred.. Confuse the junta .. keep them from thinking.. for who can think when you have time to only mug up the bombastic words???

And the world with out thinkers is like a body with immunity system on a strike!!!

Will sign off with that thought!

Cure

Girly giggles...
wandering eyes
tempting colours
N enchanting patterns ..
Trinkets, veils n redolence
Waning coffers
but pleasure guaranteed

P.S : This is an ode to shopping delights.. :))
then why the title ? ... JLT :))

LOL moment of the day!

A board outside a nursing home near by which says - ' PMS Nursing Home' .
(Err... No comments!!!)

Ghosts

Pretense of normalcy shattered
Ancient wounds exhumed
Haunted by dreams of the past
Helpless pain shredding the soul
Silent tears giving way to a numb silence..

Stranger

Knocked on your door
to say I am sorry..

but the words faded..
as memories raced all around

Rooted to the ground
I stared.. at you..

waiting for ..:)
The smile was familiar..
not the eyes though...

I watch you staring back
at a stranger ...

the mist was lifting ..
n the cold setting in ...

I knew there was nothing left to say

Realised the words had already been
spoken...

A part of me dead ..

it was time to move on..
for closure was finally mine..

Piece of Khandala..

This is an old post ...didnt upload it due to its reference to
Karmabhoomi.... but then this was one meeting where I didnt have to kill the frown on my face ...so here goes ...

Had a meeting with the customer and the various other units
who are working to make this assignment a success(!)...
The objective was to break the dealdlock between the
customer and the home - look n feel team!
Now the look n feel guys were trying to force a new
new idea down the customers throat and they in turn were resisting
it with everything had..

Amusement galore for the rest of the people in the meeting .. .

Usually the customer asks for a piece of moon and we say...
with this money we can only take you to Khandala ..
.. Itne paise main itnaich milenga!!!!

But here the situation was we are hand holding them
to the 22nd century but they say..
'No! No! No! I do not want the moon...Give me back my cave!'

Devil's own...

Devils own...

Morality on a break ..
Giving vices a free reign ..

Unadulterated arrogance...
Unfettered anger ..

Wicked thoughts
instigated by boundless greed..

Sloth' my shadow
Gluttony a virtue..

Heaven hath no place for me

For,

I am the demon child...

Shukraan Allah

hmm..

Shukraan Allah Wallah Alham Dulilah ...

Lovely song ...but what caught my eye.. or in this case my ear ..
was just the first line...

Big Bro Google tells me .. this is arabic and a rough
transalation is ... 'Thank god.. All praises belong to God'

Which got me wondering about a Sanskrit translation to it ...

Which is no easy task...
Its easier to get a translation from Arabic than Sanskrit!!!

But the search finally yeilded results ..

The translation is ...

Had typed that before I could even find the answer... I will leave the story hanging there... Given up after an hours search... Sleepy as hell... and God in heaven u could have helped me praise you in Sanskrit .. :)

And btw .. I shudder to transalate the rest of the song...
Its just a raunchy serenade .. :) Not sure if He felt too 'praised' with the rest....

Peace on a hiatus

Once upon a time not too long ago
was the kingdom of peace

where a tussle meant - a smile was round the corner

a frown meant - a song was not far away

where year long celebrations was the envy of one and all ..

Now, with the kingdom lost

natives - lost, wounded or exiled

peace takes a hiatus


I pen a question that is on every single mind

Would there be another incarnation

of the prosperity not too long ago?

........

I watch him walk ahead...
without a backward glance..

Resolute strides ahead..
head held high...
like a soldier on a mission..

i watch him as I watch
the sun rise from the sea
to be swallowed by another at dusk

DAy after day ...
night after another ...

Dont you ever tire ??

A boulder lay ahead..
rest a while
Perhaps you have a moment to
spare for me

For Father time ...
I wish to see your face.. :)

City of Joy

People say a picture says a thousand words. So is the case wih a photo. Happened to see an old pic from my days in The City of Joy. Saying that it brought back a flood memories would be an understatement. More than a decade later , some of the things that gives me a funny feeling inside when someone says Kolkatta..

1) The incredulous look on my classmates' faces when I admitted that I didnt have a bf ( I was 16!!) . Well. They start early ( dont ask!).

2) Macher jhol, the noodles in the roadside stalls near rashbehari, the achars sold in front of our school, hasmi (its a tangy concotion of some kinda herbs, good for the tummy, a hit with my taste buds), the gleaming vegetables in winter( I am not kidding, the veggies actually looked healthy , they have this glow around them like they had either indulged in something naughty or had just found the secret to long lasting happiness) and do not get me started on the fish .I can still see the bengali babus, on sunday mornings- a triumphant smile on their faces and a fish hanging in their hand ..yes...no plastic cover... no banana leaf to cover it...Reminds you of Shikari Shambu.. isint it ?? (Check Champak... the old comics for the indian kiddies)

3) Books - They can be found in abundance, on the streets, peoples homes, even my bed.

(this is one trait I am proud of!!!!) . Bengalis love books, education and everything associated with it...atleast I know for sure where my love affair with books started from..

4) My english teachers - All of took it onto themselves to be the first one to get me to participate in debates.. Had dabbled in a few essay , poetry , short story writing skirmishes. But debate and elocution have always given me the beejeebies (still do! But then I have added acting to my talents basket, so doesn't matter anymore, or so I tell myself).

5) Rabindrasangeet - The half yearly get togethers used to be only time , when some of my neighbours would emerge from their abodes. Cant generalise, but the bengalis I knew were not very social, or should I say , were not as social as the people I had lived with before

After Pune, Calcutta was a shock ..But before I go to Pune... I would get back to Rabindrasangeet...These get togethers used to trigger numerous rounds of singing.. and this was where I had my initiation into Rabindra Sangeet.. More than the music I can still hear the passion that Bengalis had for Gurudev's creation... ( my only regret... I should have learnt how to sing as well!!! Would have been useful now... would have used it against anyone who dares to come to the terrace before 8 in the morning on weekends .... insensitive people who do not care for the fact that the walls are thin .. I am a super light sleeper)

6) Durga Puja... I have seen the Ganesh Pandals and the Durga pandals...and 2 different reactions... By seeing, I mean , I have seen them again and again .. year after year...

not the see click and stock away in memory type of seeing.. Having lived in both the places where

these festivals are celebrated.. I have more than a tourist's view on both these festivals...

and being a non -Maharashtrian and a non- bengali... I am not biased either... Ganesha was more fun .. :) ... but the new dresses and the late night strolls to the pandals round the city .. the crowded roads with hundred of food stalls... wouldn't mind experiencing that again..

But after all this .. do I miss the place ?.. Nope... I am happy where I am .. relatively speaking ofcourse..

Lady Da Vinci

Standing by the window ..

Searching for visions in the past ..

was a maiden in white

Pouring a memory on to the easel

Quill in hand .. and wrinkle on the forehead

she brushed away the sleep

of the night ..

As she set poetry in motion...

The lake and the mountain held no allure ..

Nor the faces and the sounds closeby

Unaware of the moonlight kissing her cheeks

or the wind raising her hair in a symphony

the colours convulsed in an unrestrained orgy

The strokes ended as the night eased by..

She stood back to look

to watch for the first time

a slice of the past

imprisoned for the future..

A smile later she walked away ..

searching for more captives of her past

The message

The wind swept a lone leaf

across the dry mountains and tall plains...

A long journey lay ahead

A relentless journey forward..

It was no aimless saunter..

A preordained destination awaits

A springly step to start with

but as it watched time fly by ..

Hope faltered

But the co conspirer ... was a kind friend

It lifted the the traveller brown

away and and away

past twilight and dawn

Until they reached a kingdom known

Where a princess stood in the lone tower

waiting with an arm drawn

Reaching out to the leaf now dry

It wasnt too late for the rejoicing pine ...

It had reached home to deliver ..

the message etched on its fair side...

from a friend once known..!

P.S Pic Courtesy ET.

An Ode to Gurudev

A dam spills over unfettered in the summer breeze

A smile blooms in winter ..

Sping brings a song in my heart

And, ... love springs forth in autumn...

Gurudev ... thankyou for Geetanjali...